Game 4: Oilers lead 8-1, McDavid sets single postseason assists record
Posted June 15, 2024 6:37 pm.
Last Updated June 15, 2024 8:50 pm.
Facing elimination in the Stanley Cup final and hoping to avoid being swept, the Edmonton Oilers got to the best possible start in Game 4.
After the Florida Panthers hit back-to-back posts, the Oilers took the puck the other way on a shorthanded odd-man rush.
A patient Connor Brown fed Mattias Janmark in front of goal, knocking the puck off a Florida player and in to take a 1-0 lead at 3:11.
Janmark turned provider minutes later when he connected with Adam Henrique, who managed to get the inside position in Sergei Bobrovsky’s crease for his third of the post-season at 7:48 — Edmonton’s first two-goal cushion of the final.
Vladimir Tarasenko got the visitors on the board at 11:26 when he deflected defenceman Gustav Forsling’s shot from the blue line after Cody Ceci turned the puck over.
The Panthers nearly equalized moments later but goaltender Stuart Skinner came across to deny Carter Verhaeghe on a 2-on-1.
Dylan Holloway restored Edmonton’s two-goal lead when, in transition, he got the puck from Leon Draisaitl and lifted it over Bobrovsky’s pad at 14:48.
Edmonton’s captain got in on the scoring, silencing some critics with his first of the Stanley Cup final, early in the second period. Connor McDavid raced down the ice, took a pass from Zach Hyman before beating Bobrovsky short side at 1:13.
Bobrovsky’s night was over four minutes later when Darnell Nurse made it 5-1 for the Oilers, with McDavid and Hyman nabbing helpers.
The Panthers got into some penalty trouble in the second period, with Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Bennett taking roughing penalties on the same play. The Oilers made no mistake on the two-minute-long 5-on-3 power play, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins knocking in his 15th of the playoffs after a tight-angle shot from Draisaitl.
With an assist on that 6-1 goal, his 31st of the postseason, McDavid tied Wayne Gretzky for most assists during a single Stanley Cup playoff run.
McDavid took sole possession of that record with six minutes to play in the third period when Holloway scored his second of the night, completing a tic-tac-toe play for Edmonton’s seventh goal of the game.
The Oilers are down 3-0 in the series and must win four games in a row to hoist the Stanley Cup and end Canada’s 30-year drought.
